Despite the popularity of web, Indian television has a long way to go: Prachi Tehlan

Just when the overdramatic and never-ending daily soaps were taking over our senses, web series came in to save us from the severe turmoil. With edgy and fresh concepts, web series became popular within no time, thereby shifting the focus of the television audience towards itself.

Expressing her views about the deteriorating conditions of TV industry, Prachi Tehlan, a beloved face of television says, “I would agree to the point that today’s audience is turning to the internet for alternative entertainment. No broadcasting censor, creative satisfaction, finite duration and emergence of innumerable web channels like Netflix, TVF, ALTBalaji etc has somehow contributed to the popularity of web series. Also, because the content is the king here, people find it hard to resist the gripping and innovative plots.”
That’s true to a large extent but does that indicate the death of Indian television industry?

“Of course not!” Prachi exclaimed. “I would agree that web series has created a space for itself, but at the same time television is also growing in terms of reach. Where on one hand the internet is catering millennials, television, on the other hand, caters to the middle-class household with an average age of 25 and above.”

Citing the examples of some leading names of Bollywood who stepped into the TV industry, Prachi adds, “Superstars like Salman Khan, Shahrukh Khan and Akshay Kumar are paving the way towards television because they see some potential in the industry. At the moment, the condition of television might not be as good as it was, but still, there is a long way for improvement. In no way, we can claim the death of TV as yet.”